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209th Annual Meeting: a meeting like no other

by Tiffany Vail, Associate for Communication

December 2008/January 2009

www.macucc.org/2008AM/initial.htm

The Massachusetts Conference, United Church of Christ, held its 209th Annual Meeting in Worcester on Saturday, November 1st – and it was a meeting like no other in recent memory.

The day began in the morning with Keynote Speaker Rev. Martin Copenhaver telling delegates he was looking to “foment revolution” by urging churches to get away from Robert’s Rules to conduct church business and to take up the more difficult process of discernment instead.

Copenhaver told delegates that Congregationalists have lost some of their rich history for decision-making – clinging to the importance of democracy while losing track of the importance of listening to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our midst.

“Robert's Rules are seriously flawed for the work of the church,” Copenhaver said. “Majority rules is hardly a model for a Christian community ... Majority rules is what happens when we take God out of the process.”

Copenhaver said discernment involves not trying to build a consensus about what we think should be done, but instead seeking together to discern what Christ would have us do. He also spoke about the importance of making space for silence and prayer during discussion, and of being open to the knowledge that we never know through whom God will speak.

“I think our folks are tired – I know that I am tired – of attending church meetings that are run like they could take place anywhere else – in the town meeting or the civic organization,” Copenhaver said.  “I believe that church meetings – all church meetings – are supposed to feel more like prayer meetings than like business meetings.  And, in fact, I think we need to do everything we can to fight the kind of dualism that can creep into our thinking, the kind of dualism that divides the life of the church into a spiritual side and a business side.”

After Copenhaver spoke, delegates to the meeting sat in small groups to discuss the question: “As we discern our local church budgets, to what extent are we obligated by our covenant with God and with one another to financially support the wider church?”  Delegates were also asked to bring this question back to their churches for discussion and discernment over the coming year.

As the meeting progressed, some elements of a discernment process were woven into the business, with regular breaks taken for prayer and silence and delegates pausing to say in unison “May the Holy Spirit speak through us” after each person spoke.

But the meeting was still operating under Robert’s Rules, and delegates were put to the test later in the afternoon, when a difficult vote on a resolution left the body divided by just 12 votes.

The delegates were struggling over some specific language in a resolution on working for the development of a Massachusetts Innocence Commission. The vote came after a packed hearing resulted in some amendments to the language, which was followed by some passionate debate on the floor of the Meeting.  The resolution ended up being approved by just 12 votes.

Copenhaver immediately called for a reconsideration of the vote, saying the Meeting had clearly not come together as one body on the issue.

Several delegates echoed his concern.

“If we go forward with this, we will go against everything we talked about today,” said Roberta Barr, a United Church of Christ pastor serving the Watertown Community Church. “If we go forward, every one of us will lose.”

But Judith Mitchell, a member of the Church of the Pilgrimage, UCC, in Plymouth, said votes on resolutions at past Conference Annual Meetings have also been close, and that the Conference stood by those decisions and should stand by this one.

Eventually, delegates agreed to reconsider their decision, and to table the resolution until the next year.

Dick Osterberg, long-time parliamentarian of the Meeting and a member of Newton Highlands Congregational Church, UCC, encouraged everyone to feel good that they had taken baby steps in a new process of discernment, and to not leave feeling discouraged because no consensus was reached.

“You should leave feeling you’ve learned something,” he said.

In other business, delegates voted:

• To authorize the Board of Directors to sell Warner Farm, Conference property in Western Massachusetts. The Board intends to sell it to Rich Fornier, a UCC pastor who wishes to develop it into a year-round retreat facility.

• Approved the $2.2 million Conference budget and voted to continue retaining 40% of the funds contributed by churches to Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support, forwarding the other 60% to the national setting of the United Church of Christ.  A resolution to change this formula in order to increase the hours of a Conference staff position was withdrawn before the meeting.

• Approved a Fellowship Dues rate – the amount churches pay to the Conference setting – of $16.40 per member, up from $16.00 last year.

• Approved clergy compensation guidelines as recommended by the Commission for Leadership Development.

In addition to the business conducted, delegates were also able to attend workshops and visit a marketplace. On Friday, a clergy-lay leader event was held followed by an Annual Meeting Celebration dinner, where awards were made and the Pommern Village Choir from Tanzania performed.